Teachers play an important role in the social and cognitive development of children. However, traditional teaching approaches put the focus on teachers and consider students as secondary, as discussed in “New media learning for children—interact with color and tempo”, Liu, K. R., Chen, Y. S., Chen, K. T., Chen, H. S., Proc. IEEE International Conference on Sensor Networks, Ubiquitous, and Trustworthy Computing. Volume 2, Taichung, Taiwan (2006) 124-129. This results in lower learning efficiency, since students may become passive and not fully attentive to the material. To improve learning among the diverse group of children, the initiative must come from the learners rather than the teachers. This can be achieved by the use of novel teaching approaches, integrating intuitive design and multimedia technologies. Advances in sensors and media technologies have made it possible to design real-time human-computer interface (HCI) applications suitable for the task. Such applications are receptive to the user's needs, easy to use, and offer multi-sensory experiences.
Although the importance of human tutors cannot be denied in the cognitive and social development of children, it can be enhanced with the use of interactive media technology to enrich the learning process. Emerging interactive media technologies have the potential to not only help young people learn, but also engender a true love of learning, as discussed in “Children and interactive media—a compendium of current research and directions for the future”, Wartella, E., O'Keefe, B., Scantlin, R., Markle Foundation, 2000. Smart toys have been designed to stimulate creative and imaginative abilities in children, as discussed in “TSU.MI.KI: Stimulating children's creativity and imagination with interactive blocks”, Itoh, Y., et al., Proc. 2nd International Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing, Kyoto, Japan, 2004, pages 62-70. Researchers have been working on making the learning process for children more intuitive by exploring new paradigms of interaction, as discussed in “Technologies for lifelong kindergarten. Educational Technology Research and Development” Resnick, M., 46(4), 1998. There are also some haptics-enabled learning environments, as discussed in “Haptic desktop for assisted handwriting and drawing”, Portillo, O., Avizzano, C., Raspolli, M., Bergamasco, M., Proc. IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, Nashville, Tenn., USA (2005) 512-17, but they require more expensive equipment. In the inventors' previous work the inventors strived to bring the imaginative fantasy world of children in to physical reality by using augmented reality and tangible user interface (TUI) technologies, as discussed in “Magic cubes for social and physical family entertainment”, Zhou, Z., Cheok, A. D., Li, Y., Kato, H., CHI Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Portland, Oreg., USA (2005) 1156-1157. This encouraged creative thinking and social interaction among children and their families.
Additionally, attempts have been made as disclosed in existing patents claiming to teach and improve student's handwriting skills. These are U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,901, “Pen Based Computer Handwriting Instruction, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,602, “Computerized Method and Apparatus for Teaching Handwriting”. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,901B, for example, a pen based computing system is used to acquire the handwriting sample, and claims to capture writing instrument or implement movement (see patent file page 9, selection 65) over the sensor board, tablet, which is capable of translating the pen stroke information in to electronic signals. The tablet also transmits these signals to connected computer so that it can display the similar stroke on the computer display panel for user to view. Furthermore to properly display the strokes inventor clamps the paper in special position so as to match the orientation on the computer display panel. (see patent page 9, 1st column of summary of the invention, first five paragraphs).
Thus, there is a need for a method and a system which addresses the limitations of conventional system and methods and seamlessly combines natural way of handwriting (real world) with interactive digital media technologies (virtual world) for providing a mixed reality perception to the user.